Key Takeaways
Resort fees are mandatory daily charges: Hotels add this additional fee on top of the base room rate, and they are typically charged per night, often ranging from $15 to $50 (around £12 to £40) in popular destinations like Las Vegas and Orlando.
They are not optional: Despite the name, resort fees apply whether you use the included amenities or not. You cannot refuse them at check-out.
UK package holidays often protect you: Booking a package through operators like TUI or Jet2holidays usually means the total price is fixed upfront, reducing the risk of surprise charges at the hotel.
Comparison tools don't always show them: Skyscanner and similar booking sites may highlight an advertised price or advertised rate rather than the true nightly total once resort fees are included. Always check the hotel's own website or call ahead to confirm the overall cost.
Some hotels waive fees for elite loyalty members: Hotel loyalty programs can help, and some major hotel brands may waive resort fees for elite members or award stays, so it is worth asking before booking.
Budgeting for the full trip cost matters: Hidden fees are one reason why planning your total travel budget carefully, including accommodation extras, flights, and transfers, pays off before you book.
What Is a Resort Fee, Exactly?
Hotel resort fees are a mandatory resort fee added to your bill on top of the advertised room rate. They are not a tax, they are not optional, and they are not tied to how much you actually use the hotel. You pay them simply for staying there, and they typically add around $15 to $50 per night to the room cost.
Hotels typically justify resort fees by saying the charges cover services and amenities such as internet access, gym access, pool use and, at some properties, an in room safe. In other words, resort fees cover extras the hotel bundles into your stay whether you use them or not. The problem is that many travellers would never pay separately for those things, and in a lot of hotels amenities used to be free anyway; some hotels even charge resort fees for in-room coffee and bottled water.
Such fees are most common in the United States, particularly in Las Vegas (where nightly resort fees regularly run from $35 to $50 per room), Miami Beach, Orlando, and Hawaii. But they are spreading. Parts of the Caribbean, Mexico, and some European resort destinations have adopted similar practices under labels like "destination fee", "amenity fee", or "facilities surcharge".
If you are a traveller, especially a UK traveller booking trips to the US, Caribbean or Mexico, understanding hotel resort fees helps you compare hotels properly and budget for the real cost of your stay. This guide explains what resort fees are, why hotels charge them, what they usually include, how to spot or avoid them, how they differ from other fees, what package holiday protections may apply, and how the headline hotel room price can end up far below the final room cost once fees are added.
Why Do Hotels Charge Resort Fees?
Hotels charge guests resort fees primarily so the base rate appears lower, framing them as hidden resort fees or even junk fees in pricing terms. Online travel agencies and comparison tools like Skyscanner and Booking have historically ranked hotels partly on nightly rate, so the advertised rate looks lower even though the mandatory fee is added later. By stripping amenity costs out of the headline price and bundling them into a separate fee, a hotel can appear cheaper in search results than competitors who include everything in one rate.
It is a pricing strategy, not a service one. Research by the American Hotel and Lodging Association estimated that US hotels collected around $2.9 billion in resort and destination fees in a single year. That money is significant enough that many hotel groups in the hospitality industry and hotel industry have built their revenue models around it, boosting earnings while reducing commission paid on the room portion to booking sites and travel advisors.
There is also a practical argument hotels make: the bundled amenities (high-speed Wi-Fi, fitness centre, pool towels, local phone calls) do have a genuine cost to provide. That is true. Some hotels charge resort fees for in-room coffee and bottled water. The issue is transparency. When the cost is hidden until check-in, or buried in small print during booking, you cannot make a fair comparison between hotels.
Some hotel chains, particularly independent boutique properties and a handful of larger brands, have pushed back against the trend by advertising fully inclusive rates. If you see a hotel advertising "no resort fee" as a selling point, that is a direct response to how widespread and disliked the practice has become.
How Much Are Resort Fees in Practice?
The resort fees cost varies widely by destination and property type, but the average resort fee is $33 per day, and only about 6% of hotels charge them in the U.S. Here are realistic figures for the destinations where UK travellers are most likely to encounter them:
Las Vegas: $30 to $50 per night per room. A seven-night stay at a Strip hotel can add £220 to £390 to your bill at current exchange rates.
Miami Beach and Florida: $20 to $40 per night. Orlando resort hotels often sit at the higher end of that range.
Hawaii: $25 to $50 per night, sometimes more at premium properties.
Mexico (Cancun, Los Cabos): All-inclusive resorts often include a destination fee or services charge of $10 to $30 per night even on top of an all-inclusive room rate.
Caribbean islands: Varies widely. Some smaller islands have resort fees of $15 to $25 per room per night; others include everything in the listed rate.
On average, these charges have been rising by almost 11% each year.
I looked at a popular mid-range hotel on the Las Vegas Strip recently and found the advertised Booking base room rate was £98 per night. The resort fee was $39 (around £31) on top, taking the final room cost over five nights up by an extra £155. The true cost was 32% higher than the headline price suggested. That kind of gap matters when you're comparing hotels side by side.
What Do Resort Fees Usually Cover?
Resort fees, sometimes labeled amenity fees or facility fees, bundle a set of amenities into a single daily charge. What is included varies by hotel, but common inclusions are:
Wi-Fi: Almost always included. In many hotels this used to be free as standard.
Gym and fitness centre access: Included in most resort fees, though most hotels would give guests access anyway.
Pool access and towels: Standard inclusions at resort properties.
Parking: Occasionally included, though many hotels charge separately for parking on top of the resort fee.
Local and toll-free phone calls: Included but rarely used by travellers with mobile phones.
Daily newspaper or welcome gift: A token addition in some properties.
Shuttle services or bike hire: More genuinely useful inclusions at some resorts.
Resort fees usually cover amenities, but some other services still cost extra, and room service is usually charged separately.
The honest question to ask yourself before booking is: would you actually use enough of these to justify the cost? If you are staying for two nights and plan to be out all day, paying £60 in resort fees for gym access and a newspaper you will not read is not great value.
Some hotels are now offering what they call "resort fee credit" schemes, where the daily fee earns you credits to spend on food, drinks, or spa treatments. These can represent real value if you use them, but only if you plan ahead and specifically spend them during your stay.
Resort Fees vs Other Hidden Hotel Charges
Resort fees are the most talked-about hidden hotel charge, but they are not the only one. Here is a clear breakdown of the extras that can quietly inflate your hotel bill:
Destination fees
Used in city-centre hotels (particularly in New York) rather than resort properties. Functionally identical to a resort fee but renamed because the hotel is not technically a resort. Rates in NYC typically run from $25 to $45 per night.
Early check-in and late check-out charges
Most hotels set a standard check-in time of 3pm and check-out of 11am or noon. Arriving at 10am or leaving at 4pm can trigger charges of £20 to £50 depending on the property.
Minibar and in-room dining
A can of soft drink from a hotel minibar can cost £5 to £8. It is an old trap, but still a live one: minibar items and in-room dining are extra fees beyond any resort fee, and tips for delivery are paid directly to hotel staff. Check prices before you open anything.
Wi-Fi (at hotels without resort fees)
Some budget and mid-range hotels that do not charge resort fees still charge separately for premium Wi-Fi, particularly business hotels where guests are on expenses.
Parking
Hotel parking in central London, Edinburgh, or major US cities can run to £30 to £50 per day on top of any room rate or resort fee. Always confirm this separately if you are driving.
The best defence against all of these is simply reading the booking confirmation in full and calling the hotel to clarify any charge you do not recognise before you check in.
How to Find Out If a Hotel Charges Resort Fees
The most reliable way to find out about resort fees before you book is to compare the advertised price with the full total, then check the hotel's own website and read the full rate details before confirming your reservation. Here is a practical approach:
Use the hotel's direct booking page: Resort fees are legally required to be disclosed before payment in many US states. Booking direct means you see the full disclosure before you pay, not after.
Check ResortFeeChecker.com: This independent site tracks resort fees for thousands of US properties. It is useful for planning and comparison, though it is not always perfectly up to date.
Call the hotel: A two-minute call asking "what is the total cost per night including all mandatory fees?" eliminates ambiguity completely.
Read the fine print on booking sites: On Booking.com and Hotels.com, these charges are usually listed under "taxes and charges" or "additional charges" in the property details, and KAYAK filters can help you see total costs including fees before you book.
Check recent guest reviews: On TripAdvisor and Google, guests regularly mention resort fees, especially if they found them frustrating. Searching "resort fee" in the review section of a specific hotel takes seconds.
If you are planning your next trip to a high-fee destination like Las Vegas and want help thinking through the full cost of your trip, our step-by-step holiday planning guide covers budgeting for all-in costs, not just the headline price.
Can You Avoid or Negotiate Resort Fees?
You can sometimes reduce or avoid resort fees, but it requires knowing what to ask and when to ask it. Here is what actually works:
Book direct and ask
When booking directly with the hotel, ask whether they will waive resort fees or let you avoid paying them on a direct booking. Hotels have more flexibility on direct bookings than on third-party reservations. Success rates vary, but it is always worth asking, particularly for longer stays or if you are a returning guest; if they refuse, ask whether they can reduce the total by offering a fully inclusive rate instead of a separate fee.
Use hotel loyalty status
Top-tier members of Marriott Bonvoy (Titanium and Ambassador), World of Hyatt (Globalist), and Hilton Honors (Diamond) may have resort fees waived as a status benefit at major hotel brands. Check the specific terms of your hotel loyalty programs before assuming this applies, since points bookings are often the cases where guests do not pay the resort fee.
Book a package holiday
This is genuinely the most reliable protection for UK travellers. When you book a package with an operator like TUI or Jet2holidays, the total price you pay is fixed and regulated under the Package Travel Regulations. Resort fees are either absorbed into the package cost or disclosed upfront, so you are not ambushed at check-out. Vacation rentals can also be a useful alternative for travellers trying to avoid resort fees altogether.
Choose hotels that do not charge them
It sounds obvious, but filtering your search specifically to exclude resort-fee properties, or choosing independent boutique hotels that advertise transparent pricing, is the cleanest solution. Not every hotel in Las Vegas or Miami charges a resort fee, though the majority of large Strip properties do.
Dispute a fee that was not disclosed
If a resort fee was not disclosed before you booked and you paid by credit card, you may have grounds for a Section 75 claim under the Consumer Credit Act. This applies to UK cardholders where the charge was not part of what you agreed to pay.
Package Holidays and Price Transparency
One of the most underrated benefits of booking a package holiday, rather than piecing together flights and hotels separately, is price certainty. When you book a package through a regulated UK operator like TUI, Jet2holidays, or easyJet Holidays, the price you see at the start is the price you pay. Resort fees, transfer costs, and local charges are either included or explicitly itemised before you confirm.
The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 require UK-regulated operators to give you a clear breakdown of all costs included in your package before booking. That does not mean resort fees never appear in packages to the US or Caribbean, but it does mean you will be told about them transparently rather than discovering them on day one at the front desk.
For destinations where resort fees are particularly common, including Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Cancun, this is a real advantage of the package model over booking independently.
If you are weighing up the best way to spread the cost of a package or flight-only booking, it is worth understanding the full range of payment options available to you. Our guide on paying for flights in instalments covers the practical differences between options, and our piece on pay monthly holidays versus loans versus credit cards lays out the trade-offs clearly.
Destinations Where Resort Fees Hit Hardest
Some destinations have the worst resort fees for many travellers. If you are planning a trip to any of the following, factor the fee into your budget from day one:
Las Vegas, Nevada: Almost every major Strip hotel charges a daily resort fee. The Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Caesars Palace all charge between $35 and $50 per night. On a five-night stay, that is roughly £140 to £200 extra at current rates.
Miami Beach, Florida: Resort fees of $25 to $40 per night are standard at mid-range and premium hotels on Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive.
Honolulu, Hawaii: Resort fees in Waikiki typically run from $35 to $50 per night, sometimes plus a separate parking fee of $30 to $45.
Cancun and the Riviera Maya, Mexico: Even all-inclusive resorts sometimes add a "service charge" or destination fee. Always ask what is included in the all-inclusive rate and what is charged additionally.
New York City: Destination fees (the city-hotel equivalent of resort fees) run from $25 to $45 per night at many Manhattan properties.
San Francisco: Fees also appear in this high-demand market, especially at upscale and centrally located hotels, though they are less universal than in Las Vegas.
Destinations where resort fees are rare or absent include most of Western Europe. Hotels in Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Italy generally price rooms on a transparent all-in basis (excluding city taxes, which are usually a small flat rate per person per night and are disclosed clearly). If you are looking for warm-weather destinations in September where your budget goes further, European options often have a genuine cost advantage because these charges are most common in popular tourist destinations.
Budgeting for the True Cost of Your Holiday
Resort fees are one part of a wider budgeting challenge: the gap between the price you see when you start searching and the price you actually pay. Getting that gap as small as possible requires building your budget around all-in costs from the start.
A practical approach looks like this:
Start with your real daily hotel cost: Take the room rate and add any disclosed resort fees, city taxes, and parking before comparing properties.
Account for currency conversion: Resort fees in US dollars or Mexican pesos fluctuate with the exchange rate. Budget with a small buffer, or use a travel card that gives you the real exchange rate.
Plan for transfers and local transport: Shuttle fees, taxi fares, and car rental charges often catch people out. Include them in your pre-trip budget, not your on-trip spending.
Check what your flight or package includes: Budget carriers like Ryanair and easyJet advertise fares that exclude hold luggage, priority boarding, and seat selection. Factor in the extras you actually need.
If the full cost of a trip feels like a lot to absorb in one payment, we built Vuelo to help with exactly that. Our Fair Financing option lets you spread the cost of your holiday over time (subject to eligibility), so you can plan around the true cost without it all landing at once. Whether spreading the cost is right for you depends on your own circumstances, so it is worth reviewing your budget carefully before applying. You can also read more about practical ways to save for a holiday if you prefer to pay upfront.
What to Do If You Are Charged Unexpectedly
If you arrive at a hotel and a resort fee is added to your bill that you were not informed about before booking, you have options. Here is how to handle it:
At check-in
This is your best moment to raise a concern. Ask the front desk manager to explain what the fee covers and whether it was disclosed during your booking process. Stay calm and factual. If the fee genuinely was not disclosed on the booking confirmation or the hotel website at the time of booking, say so clearly and ask whether an exception can be made.
During or after your stay
If the manager does not waive the fee and you believe it was not disclosed, document everything. Take a photo of your booking confirmation showing the total agreed price, and keep your receipt showing the final charge. Then:
Raise a formal complaint with the hotel's customer service team in writing.
If you paid by credit card (particularly a UK credit card), consider a Section 75 claim via your card provider. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act protects you when a supplier does not deliver what was agreed. An undisclosed mandatory fee arguably falls into this category.
Report the hotel to the relevant consumer body. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accepts complaints about undisclosed fees. In the UK, if you booked via a UK-based agent or operator, contact Citizens Advice or the travel company directly.
The practical reality is that resort fees, even when you dislike them, are usually legally enforceable if they were disclosed somewhere in the booking process, even in fine print. Transparency rules for hotels in many US states have strengthened in recent years, but the detail still matters.
Are resort fees legal in the UK?
Resort fees are not common at UK hotels, and Consumer Rights Act 2015 protections mean that any mandatory charge must be made clear to you before you agree to book. If a UK hotel added a surprise mandatory fee at check-out that was not disclosed in advance, you would have strong grounds to dispute it.
The challenge arises when you book a hotel abroad, particularly in the United States. US hotels are subject to US disclosure rules, which vary by state. Several US states, including California, have introduced stronger transparency requirements for drip pricing, but enforcement remains inconsistent. As a UK traveller, your best protection is to confirm the full nightly cost in writing before you book.
Can you refuse to pay a resort fee?
In most cases, no. If the fee was disclosed before you booked and is listed in the hotel's terms and conditions, you generally must pay the resort fee, and refusing at check-out is unlikely to be successful and could result in the hotel placing a hold on your payment card or denying you check-in.
Where you have a stronger position is if the fee was not disclosed at the time of booking. In that case, you can dispute it with the hotel manager at check-in, and if necessary with your credit card provider after the stay. Document everything and stay polite but firm. If the full fee was not shown before booking, that may amount to hidden resort fees, though a charge that was genuinely hidden may still be enforceable in the hotel's local jurisdiction, so managing expectations going in is important.
Do all hotels in Las Vegas charge resort fees?
Not all Las Vegas hotels charge resort fees, but the majority of major Strip properties do. Hotels off the Strip, including some downtown Las Vegas properties and smaller independent hotels, are more likely to advertise transparent all-in rates without a separate resort fee.
If avoiding resort fees in Las Vegas is a priority, sites like ResortFeeChecker.com list current fees by property and are a useful planning tool. Off-Strip hotels can also represent significantly better value overall, with room rates 30 to 60% lower than equivalent Strip properties even before accounting for fees. The trade-off is a short Uber or taxi ride to the main casino area.
Are resort fees included in package holidays from the UK?
It depends on the operator and destination. When you book a regulated package holiday with a UK operator like TUI, Jet2holidays, or easyJet Holidays, the Package Travel Regulations 2018 require all mandatory charges to be disclosed before you confirm. In many cases resort fees are absorbed into the package price or clearly itemised.
However, for some US and Caribbean destinations, resort fees may be listed as a local payable charge, meaning you pay them directly at the hotel rather than the operator collecting them upfront. Always read the full booking summary and look for any section headed "local charges" or "payable at hotel" before confirming a package to high-fee destinations.
What is the difference between a resort fee and a city tax?
A city tax (also called a tourist tax or one of many regional tourist taxes) is a government-imposed charge that hotels collect on behalf of the local authority. It is applied to all visitors and goes directly to the local government, not the hotel, helping fund local infrastructure and other services in busy destinations. City taxes are common across Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, and Greece, and are typically a small flat rate of 1 to 5 euros per person per night.
A resort fee, by contrast, is set and kept by the hotel itself. It is not a government charge and does not go to any public body. Both are mandatory, but they are completely different in nature. City taxes are generally well-disclosed and widely understood. Resort fees are a commercial decision by the hotel and the more contested of the two charges.
The bottom line
Resort fees are a real and growing part of the cost of travel, particularly for UK travellers heading to the US, Caribbean, or Mexico. They are not going away anytime soon, and the hotels that charge them are not going to make them easier to spot. The practical response is to build fee research into your booking process rather than your check-out experience.
Check the full nightly cost before you compare hotels, use package holidays to guarantee price transparency where it matters most, and never assume the advertised price on a comparison site matches the all-in total you will actually pay. Regulators increasingly target resort fees as junk fees and want the full price shown upfront. A well-planned trip budget, including all-in accommodation costs, is one of the most straightforward ways to avoid the frustration of arriving at a hotel and finding your costs are significantly higher than expected.
Plan Your Trip With the Full Cost in Mind
We built Vuelo so you can book the trip you actually want and spread the cost in a way that works for your budget. Fair Financing is available subject to eligibility.
